TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Taiwan blockchain startup OwlTing recently announced strategic investment in the company by Japan’s SBI Crypto Investment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SBI Holdings. OwlTing is a startup company focused on e-commerce and blockchain applications with services in global travel, food safety, social media platforms, global hotel bookings, and blockchain application services. SBI is confident in the ability of OwlTing to provide insight into industries by applying blockchain solutions to difficult problems and expand blockchain beyond financial possibilities. This includes OwlChain, a B2B blockchain service launched last year as the world’s first blockchain-based food safety system that traced the source of each ingredient, and the later released OwlNest, a B2B system that provides hotel operators with a blockchain hotel management service. Founder Darren Wang’s vision of “bringing Taiwan’s tech brands onto the global stage” has gained the confidence of SBI Holdings in the form of an eight figure USD investment for 20% equity.

OwlNest integrates hotel accommodation management systems with blockchain technology for an estimated 30,000 global hotel partners next year When OwlTing launched OwlNest at the end of 2017, it was the world’s first suite of hotel booking and internal systems management software based on blockchain technology. OwlTing utilized network technology and blockchain development capabilities to provide blockchain-based solutions for the hotel industry that effectively reduces operation and labor costs to further increase revenue; furthermore, blockchain’s security and mechanisms against double-transactions guarantees that hotel operators can prevent overbooking and protect the privacy of consumers.

OwlTing founder and CEO Darren Wang stated: “OwlTing has offices in Japan, the U.S., and ASEAN countries with plans to expand this year to Sweden, Thailand, and Indonesia. The investment from SBI will allow OwlTing to accelerate expansion into Europe and establish offices for global operations; our most critical milestone next year will be our initial public offering on NASDAQ. Furthermore, Japan is one of the top travel destinations in Asia and our partnership with SBI will help the country’s hotel operators better understand OwlTing and facilitate the sales of OwlNest. Up until now, we have partnered with more than 400 hotel operators in Taiwan and we estimate that next year the number will increase to 30,000 hotel partners.

SBI Holdings confident in Taiwanese innovation, partners with OwlTing to expand global market for blockchain applicationsJapanese financial services group SBI is the most aggressive company investing in the field of blockchain technology since they began planning the expansion of the digital asset eco-system in 2016. The group setup a 200 million USD fund in blockchain and AI at the start of 2018, which aims for the total amount of ultimate investment commitment to expand to 500 million USD, solidifying the firm as the investment leader in global blockchain eco-systems.

SBI Holdings founder and CEO Yoshitaka Kitao stated: “OwlTing’s focus on blockchain services includes the global hotel booking system OwlNest, B2B blockchain cloud service OwlChain, and plans for an IPO on NASDAQ next year. SBI has long held an interest in blockchain startups with technical power and we hope to apply the problem-solving capabilities of OwlTing and those concepts to other industries such as finance and insurance for greater synergy. In the next decade, we will work together in building a comprehensive blockchain eco-system.” For an experienced and formidable financial group such as SBI, OwlTing’s lack of a finance background can provide a different perspective in the blockchain industry. Through OwlNext, OwlTing can establish relationships with global hotel operators and consumers while the massive business opportunities of the tourism and travel industry can assist SBI in the future expansion of digital currency and create win-win scenarios. OwlTing’s blockchain technology and experience in travel, hotel payments from “OwlNest Blockchain Hotel Management Service” allows SBI Holdings to establish a more comprehensive plan for their global expansion in Fintech.

OwlTing early investor and Kyber Capital founder CEO Thomas Hu stated: “OwlTing is an important investment in Kyber ecosystem. By leveraging the blockchain technology and SBI’s resource network, OwlTing has the potential of rearranging the value chain for global travel industry, and open up numerous commercial scenarios for decentralised applications. We see great synergies to be created from this strategic investment."

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